The present invention is generally related to clamps and vices for holding small workpieces. More particularly, the present invention is related to clamps for holding jewelry during fabrication or repair.
Operations relating to the manufacture, repair, polishing, and cleaning of jewelry commonly require the use of small clamps or vises to firmly hold and position pieces of jewelry while they are being worked. Because of the nature of these operations, it is highly desirable that a clamp be capable of firmly positioning a piece of jewelry in any one of a number of different orientations. For the following reasons, previously available clamps have not been altogether satisfactory for this purpose.
There have been commercially available clamps and vises which utilize ball joints, universal joints, and the like to achieve limited capability for orienting small workpieces. However, such clamps and vises are typically small, and suffer from the dual disadvantages of being somewhat unstable and also not having any means for supporting the hands of the jeweler while working. In the absence of any support for one's hands, the precise work of the jeweler is made difficult and tiring. This is further aggraated in the case of clamps or vises which are relatively unstable, thus requiring the jeweler to compensate for the instability of the workpiece.
Accordingly, it is the object and purpose of the present invention to provide a clamp for holding small workpieces such as jewelry, and which provides support for a person's hands while performing work on the workpiece.
It is also an object and purpose of the present invention to provide a clamp which allows a workpiece to be held in various orientations during working, while also meeting the foregoing object of providing support for one's hands.
These and other objects and purposes of the invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following descriptions of the invention.